Boston official: Video footage shows bomb suspect

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9 p.m. update

BOSTON (AP) - In what could be major break in the Boston Marathon case, investigators are on the hunt for a man seen in a department store surveillance video dropping off a bag at the site of the bombings, a local politician said Wednesday.

Separately, a law enforcement official confirmed that authorities have found an image of a potential suspect but don't know his name.

The development - less than 48 hours after the attack, which left three people dead and more than 170 wounded - marked a possible turning point in a case that has investigators analyzing photos and videos frame by frame for clues to who carried out the twin bombings and why.

5:15 p.m. update

BOSTON (AP) - Investigators poring over photos and video from the Boston Marathon bombing have a department-store surveillance-camera image of a man dropping off a bag at the scene of the one of the blasts, a top city politician said Wednesday.

1 p.m. update:

BOSTON (AP) - A federal courthouse in Boston has been evacuated amid conflicting reports that a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing is in custody.

Attorney Francis DiMento says he was in a hearing when someone came over the loudspeaker and announced a "code red" and told everyone to get out in a hurry.

Crowds of reporters are gathered outside. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Boston say no arrests have been made.

The courthouse has a day care attached and at least one crib was wheeled out.

12:22 p.m. update

The Boston Globe has tweeted: "Federal courthouse evacuated; hundreds outside. People are being pushed back from building. Coast Guard and police boats in water."

11:47 a.m. update:

Investigators reported major progress in the Boston Marathon bombing case Wednesday, but that there had been no arrest, despite conflicting news accounts.

Two law enforcement sources told USA TODAY no arrest had been made.The Associated Press, CNN and Fox Boston said that a suspect had been taken into custody in early afternoon.

Outside the federal courthouse, there is a large law enforcement presence. Media are cramming the sidewalk. People with cell phone cameras poised also jammed the parking lot.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that a suspect is in custody in the bombing case and was expected to appear in federal court.

The AP report came as several news sources said investigators had identified images of a suspect seen delivering one of the explosive devices near the marathon finish line.

CNN's John King quotes the sources as saying that surveillance video from a nearby Lord &Taylor department store was key in the investigation. Television footage also played a role, CNN reports.

"The camera from Lord & Taylor is the best source of video so far," said Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino tells the Boston Globe. "All I know is that they are making progress."

A law enforcement official, who described the investigation as "very active,'' told USA TODAY that authorities have been focusing on a mass of photographic evidence provided by the public and area security cameras. But the source indicated that there mixed views on the value of the analysis so far.

"There is a lot going on," said the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly on the investigation.

As investigators painstakingly gather fragments of evidence from the two explosions that killed three people and injured more than 170, a lid has been recovered from a pressure cooker apparently used as the explosive device, a federal law enforcement official said.

The official, who has been briefed on the matter but is not authorized to comment publicly, told USA TODAY the lid was found on a roof near the scene of the blast.

The discovery came as the head of the Department of Homeland Security told a Senate panel in Washington that the Coast Guard worked with the Boston Police Department after the bombings Monday to guard against any potential water-borne attack from the harbor or the Charles River.

Janet Napolitano said officials continue to investigate the bombing with the FBI as a solitary act of terror.

- Donna Leinwand Leger, Kevin Johnson and Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

11:16 a.m. update:

BOSTON (AP) - A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Wednesday in a breakthrough that came less than 48 hours after the deadly attack, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said Wednesday.

The official spoke shortly after several media outlets reported that a suspect had been identified from surveillance video taken at a Lord & Taylor store between the sites of the two bomb blasts, which killed three people and wounded more than 170.

The official was not authorized to divulge details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The suspect was expected at a Boston courthouse, the official said.

A news briefing was scheduled later Wednesday.

11:04 a.m. update

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation says a suspect has been taken into custody in the Boston Marathon bombings.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday. The official was not authorized to divulge details of the investigation.

The official says the suspect is expected in federal court in Boston.

Law enforcement agencies had earlier pleaded for the public to come forward with photos, videos or any information that might help them solve the twin bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 170 on Monday.

Investigators circulated information about the bombs, which involved kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other lethal shrapnel. But the FBI said nobody had claimed responsibility.

10:44 a.m. update

BOSTON (AP) - A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is about to be arrested, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said Wednesday.

The official was not authorized to divulge details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The suspect was to be taken into custody by federal marshals and taken to a Boston courthouse, the official said.

The official spoke shortly after several media outlets reported that a suspect had been identified from surveillance video taken at a Lord & Taylor store between the two bomb blasts.

An official news briefing was scheduled later Wednesday.

Law enforcement agencies had earlier pleaded for the public to come forward with photos, videos or any information that might help them solve the twin bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 170 on Monday.

Investigators circulated information about the bombs, which involved kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other lethal shrapnel. But the FBI said nobody had claimed responsibility.

A person close to the investigation had previously told AP the bombs consisted of explosives put in 1.6-gallon pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails.

Investigators in white jumpsuits had fanned out across the streets, rooftops and awnings around the blast site in search of clues on Wednesday. They combed through debris amid the toppled orange sports drink dispensers, trash cans and sleeves of plastic cups strewn across the street at the marathon's finish line.

President Barack Obama branded the attack an act of terrorism. Obama plans to attend an interfaith service Thursday in the victims' honor in Boston.

Scores of victims of the Boston bombing remained in hospitals, many with grievous injuries. Doctors who treated the wounded corroborated reports that the bombs were packed with shrapnel intended to cause mayhem. In addition to the 5-year-old child, a 9-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy were among 17 victims listed in critical condition.

The trauma surgery chief at Boston Medical Center says most of the injuries his hospital treated after the marathon bombings were to the legs.

"We have a lot of lower extremity injuries, so I think the damage was low to the ground and wasn't up," Dr. Peter Burke said. "The patients who do have head injuries were blown into things or were hit by fragments that went up."

Dozens of patients have been released from hospitals around the Boston area.

At Massachusetts General Hospital, all four amputations performed there were above the knee, with no hope of saving more of the legs, said Dr. George Velmahos, chief of trauma surgery.

"It wasn't a hard decision to make," he said Tuesday. "We just completed the ugly job that the bomb did."

An intelligence bulletin issued to law enforcement includes a picture of a mangled pressure cooker and a torn black bag that the FBI said were part of a bomb that exploded during the marathon.

The bombs exploded 10 or more seconds apart, tearing off victims' limbs and spattering streets with blood. The blasts near the finish line instantly turned the festive race into a hellish scene of confusion, horror and heroics.

The blasts killed 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Boston, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, of Medford. The Shenyang Evening News, a state-run Chinese newspaper, identified the third victim as Lu Lingzi. She was a graduate student at Boston University.